The fifth edition of the 24-Hour Kart Endurance Race at the Zhuzhou International Circuit in Hunan Province, southern China, started at 16h00 o'clock on Saturday, 24 December 2022. 28 teams and more than 200 drivers participated in the event, held at the track’s 1.048-kilometer karting circuit. A serious accident occurred during the race, resulting in the death of one of the contestants.
A karting veteran of about five years, Jiang Hao, 33-year-old, from Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, China, was one of the eight drivers who shared the #20 kart, entered by the Gravity Kart Club. The accident happened about six hours and 40 minutes after the start of the race, while the leaders were on their 409th lap. Running mid-pack in the race, Jiang Hao who was the fourth driver of the team to drive, was approaching his 339th lap, when his vehicle was struck from behind by another competitor's kart on the front straight. His machine went out of control and veered to the left, crossed the minimal run-off area and crashed at full speed into a steel pillar. Jiang Hao hit violently with his head into the pillar which was protected only by plastic movable barriers instead of hay bales or water barrels.
The race continued for several laps, before being red flagged. Polemic started after the fatal crash against the race organizers, because of the lack of safety on the race course.
Jiang Hao was found unconscious by rescuers, who performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), while waiting for an ambulance which arrived to the scene several minutes later. Unfortunately, they did not find an available intensive care unit, being all local hospitals full of COVID victims. Finally, at about 03h00 on Sunday, 25 December, the injured driver was hospitalized. But Jiang Hao was pronounced dead, several hours later that same day.
